SENIOR COALITION VISITS KEARNEY RECYCLING CENTER

On Tuesday, August 27th, 2024, the Senior Coalition learned the inner workings of the Kearney Recycling Center, located at 3007 East 39th Street.

Materials are collected and taken to the recycling center where they are sorted. Once materials are collected and sorted, they go to the baler. Materials are compacted and wires are tied around the bale to hold it together.

The baled materials are then loaded on to semi-trailers to be hauled to a processing facility. This is how cardboard, paper and plastics are shipped. A typical load with lave between 36-40 bales.

Tin and Aluminum are baled and loaded into a roll-off box to he hauled to local recyclers.

Glass is loaded onto a truck. The truck has a scale on board so the operator knows how much glass to load. Loads of glass weigh approximately 25 tons.

To see a video explaining more about the recycling process, follow this Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/cityofkearneynebraska/videos/779002674200264

To safely recycle light bulbs, the center uses a special machine. There are chains that circulate superfast and pulls the mercury up into a separate chamber. Observe in the demonstration below. Special thanks to Steve Wickham for volunteering to try it out!

For information about drop off sites, hours, and acceptable recyclable items, visit https://cityofkearney.org/829/Recyclable-Items.